The 2025 Spring Festival Gala, aired from Tuesday night to Wednesday in celebration of the Chinese New Year, incorporated technology and traditional aesthetics in its creative stage design to present a grand visual feast for the audience.
Starting with the shape of the stage, the creative team has chosen the form of Ruyi, a curved decorative object that serves as a ceremonial scepter in ancient times, with its name meaning "as desired" in Chinese. The Ruyi stage fit well with the festive occasion and provided a walkway/B-stage that brings live audience closer to the performance.
"We started stage art design way back in August, with Ruyi as the anchor of our design. Ultimately, we chose to use the design of the oldest gilded silver Ruyi ever discovered as a reference for our initial concept," said Visual Director for the Gala, Jiang Yuhao.
Furthermore, the China Media Group employed a custom-built computer numerical control matrix curtain to meet the creative need for a lightweight, flexible, and versatile stage design.
One of the most striking features of the 2025 Gala's stage design is the use of naked-eye 3D effects on the live stage.
"For the visual presentation of the Spring Festival Gala, we have to innovate every year. In the limited space of the studio, we had to push the boundaries of stage design. This year, we introduced a large 5 by 5 by 4.5-meter cubic lifting system to replace the old 1 by 1 meter lifting system. For the song What the World Gifted Me, we immediately thought about creating a floating stage in a galactic space setting. To achieve this, we relied on the 5 by 5 cube, with half of it displaying a floating stage and the rest blending with the remaining rest of the setting, to create the floating effect," said Jiang.
By utilizing high-tech stage designs and other AR effects, the gala was able to showcase traditional arts and performances in a refreshing way. In the case of ballet performance about water and beauty, the combined effects from stage design and special effects created a surreal sense of performers dancing on water.
"We aim to showcase the ripples as dancers move through the water, in the most authentic way possible. Dance is an art form of physical language, and for us, we hope to help the audience understand the meaning and connotation of the dance as soon as they see the first image. By combining contemporary lighting, visual arts, and tracking technology, we've created an artistic performance with a strong modern atmosphere," said Jiang.
Spring Festival Gala stage design well blends technology, traditional aesthetics
Spring Festival Gala stage design well blends technology, traditional aesthetics
Spring Festival Gala stage design well blends technology, traditional aesthetics
